Razor with reciprocating shaving head



April 3, 1962 G. l. WAHNISH 3,027,636

RAZOR WITH RECIPRGCATING SHAVING HEAD Filed Feb. 29, 1960 12 75 Hll mINVENTOR George I.Wahnish ATI'ORN EY United States This inventionrelates to shaving devices of the electrical or mechanical type and moreparticularly to the type disclosed in my Patent No. 2,510,612, datedJune 6, 1950 In that patent is disclosed a shaver or razor in which theblade or cutting element is moved relatively to a perforated orapertured plate or so-called guard, and by which a shearing operation isattained. I have ascertained that improved shaving results are possibleby means of a razor or shaver construction in which the entire head ofthe razor, consisting of or including the blade and guard, is moved withan oscillating, or reciprocating movement during the shaving operation.That is to say, with the construction herein described there is norelative movement of the blade with respect to the guard, both the bladeancTguard being very rapidly vibrated, oscillated or reciprocatedtogether as a unit and at the same speed.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a razorwhich will operate as above described; which can utilize conventionaltypes of razor blades of either the double-edge or single-edge type; andwhich will afford all of the facilities of the conventional wet or dryshaver while permitting a ready and inexpensive blade change whenrequired, and which will produce a rapid, close and eminentlysatisfactory shave.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I havedevised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularlypointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is disclosed FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a portion ofa razor or shaver constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG.1, looking in the direction of the arrows and with a portion of theblade fragmentarily shown to disclose construction;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the cutting head andassociated parts, with the head shown in its forward position;

FIG. 5 is a face view of a type of double-edged blade which can be usedin the shaver, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one end portion of the guard member,with the blade-clamping means omitted therefrom.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the conventional casing or housingin which an electric motor, a spring motor, or other power source iscontained. The casing or housing may be made in various shapes forconvenience in handling or using the shaver. The source of power may beany one of those now presently known and used in electric or mechanicalshavers and hence the details of the power unit are omitted from thedrawing.

At the top, the casing or housing 1 is provided with a groove 2 in whichthe base portion of the head-guide 3 is received and is maintained byany suitable retaining means, such as the set screw 4. At its top, theheadguide 3 is formed with a rearwardly-extending horizontal flange 6,the upper surface of which constitutes a supporting shelf for theslidably-mounted shaving head, including a combined blade carrier andguard generally indicated at 7. At the rear end of the flange 6 is anupatent O ice standing wall 8 constituting a rear stop for the shavinghead 7.

The shaving head 7 includes a plate 10 having its forward edge portion11 shaped to constitute a. blade-guard resembling that generallyemployed in the conventional safety razor. Slots 12 are formed in theguard portion 11 and forwardly of the slots are serrations 13. The guardportion 11 may be made in other forms known in razor construction, suchas for example, that which is in toothed or comb-like formation.

The upper surface 14 of the plate 10 constitutes a table or supportingsurface for the blade 15, and said surface 14 may be inclined in themanner shown in the drawing or it may be arched or curved or otherwisesuitably shaped in any manner known in razor construction. The blade 15may be any known type of safety razor blade, such as the type having twocutting edges 16 and 17 or the thicker, single-edge type. The drawingillustrates the conventional double-edge type provided with a central,longitudinallyextending elongated slot 18 into which a positioning rib19, provided on the surface 14 of the plate 10 is fitted to retain theblade properly seated on the surface 14. It will be understood that theslot in the blade may be otherwise shaped and the rib which fits withinit may similarly be shaped to fit it.

The blade 15 is clampingly held against its seat, consisting of thesurface 14, by suitable clamping means, such as the spring finger orleaf shown at 20. In the drawing, the finger or leaf 20 is shown asbeing formed integrally with the head 7, but in actual commercialproduction said finger or leaf will probably be a separate elementsuitably attached to the head in any manner to exert the requiredclamping pressure on top of the blade 15 to flex it if necessary, tocause it to conform to the upper surface 14 of the plate 10. In FIG. 6the shaving head 7 is shown with the clamping finger or leaf omitted.

Provided on the head-guide 3 is a flange 21 co-operating with thesurface of the flange 6 in forming a channel 22 (FIG. 1) into which abottom flange 23, formed on the head 7 enters. Flange 23 on the head 7is thus guided between the top surface of the flange 6 and the lowerface of the flange 21 and is permitted to have the required slidingmovement while being oscillated or reciprocated and while beingrestrained from any movement axially of the operating shaft.

The flange 23 is provided with a central hole 25 which receives theeccentrically-positioned pin 26 on the end of the motor-driven driveshaft 27 of conventional construction. This engagement of the shavinghead 7 by the pin 26 is such as to cause the shaving head, includingboth the plate 10 the guard 11 formed thereon and blade 15, to berapidly oscillated. Since the guard and blade are rigidly but detachablyconnected together in the manner described, they will be oscillatedtogether at the same speed and with no relative movement between them.

The oscillating movement of the shaver head, including both the bladeand guard, produces a slicing operation on the hairs when the blade ismoved over the face during the rapid oscillations. While the shaft 27and its eccentrically-positioned pin 26 impart an oscillatory movementto the shaver head, it will be understood that a reciprocating movement,or one in which the head including both blade and guard, is moved backand forth parallel to the longitudinal axis of the blade and transverseto the direction of movement of the razor during shaving, may be readilysecured by the use of a vibratory motor and reciprocated element driventherefrom and connected to the shaver head in the manner presently knownin electric razor construction.

While I have herein described a single embodiment of the invention, itis obvious that various changes may be made in the illustrated structurewithout departing from the spirit of the invention. The shape andthickness of the blade may be varied, and the means for holding theblade and guard together in shaving relationship may also be altered,the primary feature of the present invention residing in the rapidmovement of both the blade and guard together as a unit during theshaving operation.

What I claim is:

A razor having a driving shaft, a support through which the shaftextends, said support having a channel, a shaving head movable on thesupport and having a flange fitting in the channel, the support having aflange fitting ,over that on the shaving head and confining the flangeof the shaving head in the channel, the head including a blade guardextending over and riding on top of the flange on the support, the guardhaving a forward portion extending forwardly of the support, and a bladefixedly mounted on the guard and carried along with the guard when thehead is reciprocated in a direction longitudinally of the blade, theblade and guard being moved together as a unit in a direction transverseto the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,239,644 Tuttle Sept. 11, 1917 2,510,612 Wahnish June 6, 1950 2,721,382Beauchaine Oct. 25, 1955

